1 contract every NBA team would want back
By Ian Levy
Denver Nuggets: Will Barton
Every decision the Nuggets’ front office, success and failures, helped bring them to the NBA championship last season. And almost any fan would probably happily deal with the same frustrations of the past five or six years knowing this would be the end result. Still, there might have been a shortcut or two they missed.
In 2021, the Nuggets signed Will Barton to a two-year, $30 million deal. At that point, he’d played more than six seasons in Denver, had been extremely productive and seemed viable as a third scorer and creator with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. But his 3-point shooting dropped off sharply in the first year of his new deal and his defensive shortcomings seemed like a bigger and bigger problem. The Nuggets ultimately flipped him to the Wizards with Monte Morris for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — again, all’s well that ends well. But the Nuggets might have found a cheaper or easier replacement earlier on.